Quiz: Beyond 'Paper or Plastic?'

The new rules are part of a training program that Supervalu Inc. believes will save it millions of dollars a year by putting more items in each bag or skipping the bag altogether. Plastic bags cost about two cents apiece and paper bags cost five. The Eden Prairie, Minn., operator of Albertsons, Acme Markets and Jewel-Osco stores uses more than 1.5 billion plastic and paper bags a year at about 1,100 stores, not counting its Save-A-Lot discount stores, where customers bring or pay for their own bags.

"We're in a very competitive industry. Anything we can do to lower our expenses will help us keep our prices as fair as possible," says Supervalu spokesman
Mike Siemienas.

Other grocers have long taught bagging techniques and sought to cut bag use, but Supervalu's program is unusually rigorous, says
Burt Flickinger III,
a retailing consultant with Strategic Resource Group Inc. in New York.

Some of the Supervalu guidelines reinforce familiar bagging rules, such as starting the packing at the corners and moving from the outside in. But others break with common practices: No double-bagging. No bags for large items or items with handles, like one-gallon orange-juice containers. Never ask, "Paper or plastic?"—just use plastic bags. The rules can be broken, but only on request.

The efforts carry risks, as Northeast grocer Wegmans Food Markets Inc. discovered in 2009 when it tried its own bagging switch. The Rochester, N.Y., chain of 77 stores adopted a bigger, sturdier bag to boost the average number of items per bag, but customers complained that the filled bags were too heavy, says spokeswoman
Jo Natale.

Last year, Wegmans returned to a smaller bag, and this year it is testing a smaller bag that includes 40% recycled plastic.

Some Supervalu customers may balk—for environmental reasons—at being encouraged to use plastic. Mr. Siemienas says the company promotes plastic because it's cheaper than paper but doesn't take a stand on which is environmentally friendlier. The goal is to reduce the use of all bags, including by emphasizing the reuse of bags, he says.

The chain averages three to five items a bag, whether the bag is paper or plastic, and sells about 10 billion items annually. Since mid-2009, it has boosted its average items per bag about 5%, saving $4 million to $6 million annually even as prices for plastic bags have climbed, Mr. Siemienas says.

That may not sound like much for a company with $40.6 billion in annual revenue in fiscal 2010. But Supervalu, the fourth-largest U.S. food retailer by sales behind leader
Wal-Mart Stores Inc.,
WMT 0.44%
has plans for the savings.

The chain struggled amid the recession as many customers migrated to rivals for discounts. But it's hoping to reverse 11 consecutive quarters of sales declines at stores open at least a year by plowing bagging and other savings into lower prices for bread, frozen shrimp and other items.

The initiative began in 2008, when Supervalu convened a company-wide task force to study bag use. Last year, the group issued the new guidelines and a new slogan: "When you're done, add one."

All Northwest cashiers and baggers must also take a 41-question quiz on bagging. For instance, how would you pack a collection of up to 28 items in the fewest bags? Supervalu has made the quiz available across the country and is studying whether to encourage weekly evaluations company-wide.

One recent afternoon,
Corey Hutchison,
a 25-year-old bagger at an Albertsons in McMinnville, Ore., loaded one customer's 20-item order into three plastic bags. Supervalu's heightened focus on bagging has helped Mr. Hutchison learn he "can make the bags heavier but they won't break," he says. "That actually makes me pretty happy."

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